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Jaguar F-Type to get V8 engine option

The Jaguar F-Type will also get a V8 engine, in addition to a supercharged V6. A teaser shot from the company is shown. Photo by Jaguar

The Jaguar F-Type will get a V8 powerplant in addition to a supercharged V6 when it launches in 2013, Autoweek has learned.

The much-anticipated two-seat sports car was confirmed in April at the New York auto show. Jaguar then elaborated weeks later at the Beijing motor show that the F-Type would get a supercharged 3.0-liter V6 pushing out 380 hp. That tuning will be exclusive to the car.

But the engine lineup will also include the larger eight-cylinder as an option, though Jaguar wouldn't specify power ratings or displacement.

Jaguar has been slowly revealing details of the F-Type's powertrain. An eight-speed automatic transmission will also be offered, and the V6 has been developed from Jag's 5.0-liter V8. The V6 will be rated at 340 hp in other models.

The F-Type follows in the long lineage of great sports cars from Jaguar, including the 1960s E-type. Photo by Jaguar

The F-Type is the spiritual successor to the E-type and other great Jaguar sports cars. It will use an aluminum monocoque developed in England, and prototypes are already being tested. The production version will closely resemble the C-X16 concept revealed in 2011 at the Frankfurt motor show, which captured Autoweek's Best in Show (“Exuberance Extraordinaire,” Oct. 3, 2011). The car is the first two-seater Jag in decades.

Jaguar has said that the 2+2 XK will remain the top-of-the-line coupe, but the F-Type will be aimed at a purer sports-car experience, competing against a range of entries including the Porsche 911 and the Audi R8.